how to debug a shared libarary [ separate project] from android application

Question

I am developing an android application and using intensive c++ code in the project , First I put the c++ source code in the project and used the following guide to have the NDK capability of Native Debugging in the Android application .

http://tools.android.com/recent/usingthendkplugin

but after weaks of development I decided to separate the Native code in a standalone project and use the output SO in the Android Application .

My Question Is how can I debug a SO library which is the result of a separate project in an Android Application ?

Answer 1

Use nkd-gdb for this (your .so will have to be included in the APK that you installed for your application, in the normal location for app-specific .so files) It is part of the NDK. See $NDK/docs/NDK-GDB.html

But, be warned: nkd-gdb will only attach GDB to your .so sometime after the application has started. So, you might miss some breakpoints. I know of 2 ways to solve that problem, outside of an IDE plugin:

1. Place an infinite loop at the earliest entry-point of your .so, then use GDB to break out of that infinite loop, after you have set your breakpoints
2. Download my pending update to ndk-gdb, which fixes this problem, from https://android-review.googlesource.com/#/c/48029/ (One person has reported having problems with my fix, so it is not approved for AOSP yet... but I have never reproduced their problem. Please let me know if you use it, and whether it works for you or not.)